Children are naturally driven by sensory input and seek out sensory experiences as a way to learn about the world around them. Sand and water are both resources that are simple to incorporate and fun for sensory play. Whether combined or used alone, sand and water are sensory bases that lend themselves to engaged, learning through play.
Wet and Dry Play
Wet and dry play afford children an opportunity to explore the various properties of different materials. Both water and sand can be used to explore volume and physics. They both conform to whatever vessel they are in, both can be scooped, transferred and poured. Sand can be used to build-up and form structures. Water can be combined with sand to form a paste for retaining shape.
Here are some simple sand and water play ideas to incorporate into your child's sensory play:
:
Dry Play Ideas
Place some puzzle pieces, letters or numbers in the table basin and cover with sand. Leave out the matching puzzle pieces around the table ledge. Have your child reach into the sand to find the matching pieces and match them. Here, we used our
Nature Feel and Find set; the 3-dimensional, textured, plastic shape pieces are great for
sensory play and matching.
Set out some
Little Bricks along with construction
vehicles for scooping, transferring, pouring, stacking and building play.
We extended the play by having the kids round up sticks from around the yard and haul them to "the construction site" with their larger
dump truck and loader
vehicles.
Wet Play Ideas
- Wet Sand Construction-Themed Play
I had left out some empty
Treasure Tubes for scooping and pouring along with one holding water to combine with the sand. The kids combined the water with the sand to form a sticky paste and observed the difference in how the sand felt and functioned.
They especially enjoyed pouring the water onto the sand and spreading the paste between the bricks with kid-safe palette knives, and of course, raking their hands through the sand, scooping it and watching as they poured it out or let it fall down from various heights.
At the end, my son dumped the
Little Bricks on the ground and used the
Wooden Loader to transport them toward the hose to wash off.
- Ocean-Themed Sand and Water Play
For this activity, simply pour sand and leave an opening in which to pour water. We added 1-2 drops of blue food coloring to the water to make it more of an ocean color.
I left out some seashells in a Treasure Tube and mini ocean figurines in a 2nd Tube. The kids used the shells to form a wall between the water and sand. This kept their focus for quite some time as they carefully lined up the shells along the edge of the sand and water. Lots of fine motor control and hand-eye coordination came into play for this portion of the activity.
- Add Tiered Levels of Play and Motion Exploration
Here, we added the
Sensory System - Tubes and Clips Set to extend the play. The kids explored attaching the tubes at different heights and angles, as well as pouring water through the tubes and having their mini figurine animals slide through the tubes.
And of course, every hot summer day yard activity seems to end with a good soak under the hose water. Cooled off, the kids then proceeded to add water from the hose directly into their sand and water activity setup, forming a better sensory base than anything mommy could imagine. They created a muddy splash haven within their
Sensory Table basin, and happily played with this sludge for the remainder of the afternoon. (The basin drain allowed for easy clean-up, once the kids were done playing.)
